Mandate Trade Union contacted all major retailers with regard to their intentions to protect their staff health and safety for the duration of the national emergency. In particular we were advising employers that stores should close and staff should be sent home and paid in full. We are happy to report that after numerous interventions from Mandate Trade Union on the morning of the storm, Tesco agreed to eventually close stores and send staff home without loss of pay.

2. Mandate Trade Union will continue to fight for Decency and Respect for Tesco workers:

We are pursuing Tesco to create significantly more full-time permanent jobs. In the last 18 months Tesco has taken out over 1,500 fulltime permanent jobs replacing them with part-time jobs, many of which fail to provide enough earnings for workers to survive. Profitable retailers have no excuse for not creating more decent fulltime positions, with good rates of pay and good rosters .The Labour Court will hear a case on the 4th Jan 18 lodged by Mandate for a review of the current Banded Hours Agreement. On the same date the Labour Court will also hear a case against Tesco for the non-payment of pay increases to pre 96 members.

There are two pay scales in Tesco at the moment, we are pursuing an equality agenda demanding that all employees are equalised upwards to the higher pay scale and that progression on the scale should be 12 months for all employees.

3. Project Black Continues

Tesco continue to interfere with workers’ rights and workers’ voice at work. We believe the company is trying to dismantle your union, silence your voice at work and weaken workers’ ability to secure decent terms and conditions into the future. The following are just some of Tesco’s actions:

Tesco removed 2,000 workers who either went on strike or threatened to go on strike from the contractual company/union agreement for the payment of union subs via payroll (majority of these members have now signed up to the union on-line payment).

For the remaining members paying their subs via payroll the company continues to forward your union subs (albeit belatedly) to Union Head Office, but Tesco are refusing to include a listing of those members for whom the money is to be credited against. This is an attempt to interfere with your union payment history and cause some confusion among members.

Tesco refuse to engage with your union on collective issues such as pay and benefits. As we know the Company is attempting to position itself as the sole determinant of all your future pay increases and terms and conditions of employment. Collective bargaining is important to every Tesco worker, it’s your voice at work, it’s your collective independent power, it delivers pay and conditions on which you have a say. Anything short of full engagement with your union puts all your existing and future pay and conditions at the mercy of management

Tesco is attempting to limit the access of your Union Officials to stores – this is an attack on your rights to be fully represented by well-trained union officials who can fight your corner and protect you against mistreatment.

Mandate believes that Tesco will not be satisfied until it totally dismantles all union structures and all workers’ influence at work at which stage they can effectively do what they want with employees. This is the aim of “Project Black”, but it will not succeed. Irish workers will not tolerate Tesco attacking their union and their Voice at Work. The terms and conditions enjoyed by Tesco workers today were not given freely by the company, they were won down through the years by employees in a strong union and via collective bargaining.

4. Christmas Trading Arrangements and Conditions of Employment

Mandate Trade Union will be shortly circulating Christmas arrangements and conditions which should be applied by Tesco to all members working over the holiday period. For full details of the Christmas Trading/Working Agreement please click here: